12/8/2016 7:22 AM PST BY TMZ STAFF

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Just when Casper Smart thought 2016 couldn't get worse -- he totaled his Mercedes sports car, but on the positive side ... he was able to walk away from the nasty wreck.

Casper smashed into a guardrail and a tree in Woodland Hills, CA around midnight ... according to cops. The collision smashed in the driver's side of the car and deployed his airbags. Police say there were no other vehicles involved ... it appears he just lost control, and alcohol was not a factor.

Jennifer Lopez's ex was not injured -- kudos to Mercedes -- and actually posted a pic of his baby with "#wasntmyfault."

12/8/2016 8:02 AM PST BY TMZ STAFF

Breaking News

Greg Lake, who co-founded the popular progressive rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer ... died Wednesday.

Greg's agent said he died after "a long and stubborn battle with cancer." Greg is the second member from the '70s band to die in 2016 -- founding member and keyboardist Keith Emerson died back in March.

ELP burst onto the scene in 1970 at the Isle of Wight Festival ... where Jimi Hendrix and The Who also famously headlined. The band broke up off and on and reunited for a tour as recently as 2010.

Greg also had a successful solo career that included the 1975 classic, "I Believe in Father Christmas."

12/8/2016 12:30 AM PST BY TMZ STAFF

EXCLUSIVE

George Jung, the guy Johnny Depp played in "Blow," is back in jail for violating his parole, but he's blaming it all on his manager.

Sources close to the infamous cocaine smuggler tell us George took a trip to San Diego to make a little cash for appearing at an event. We're told he couldn't get a hold of his parole officer, but Jung says his manager insisted it'd be okay ... since it was only a 4 hour work trip.

That wasn't the case. He was arrested Tuesday when he got home to Sacramento.

According to jail records ... George, who was released in 2014 after serving 20 years for running drugs, was booked in Sacramento County jail on Dec. 6. He's not eligible for bail, given his record, so he's still behind bars until his next court date.

12/7/2016 5:17 PM PST BY TMZ STAFF

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6:35 PM -- Young Thug's Seattle fans just got screwed ... he says he didn't make his backup flight, so he's postponing Wednesday night's show to Dec. 12.Young Thug gave two female Alaska Airlines employees the business for trying to make him miss his flight and his show ... at least that's the way he saw it.

The rapper went in on the women pretty hard -- calling them "peasants" and "ants" with "nappy" hair. You can tell they're pissed as he tried to offer them $15k to quit their jobs.

A rep for the airline tells TMZ ... Thug was supposed to be on a flight from ATL to Seattle, but he arrived after their 45 minute cutoff period. We're told they still offered him a seat on a partner flight, but he declined..

It's unclear if he's going to make it in time for his 7 PM gig in Seattle.

We don't know what was said before Thug started recording, but the way he treats the women here ... makes him seem like a complete tool.

12/7/2016 3:43 PM PST BY TMZ STAFF

EXCLUSIVE

Brad Pitt thinks he's getting the short end of the stick when it comes to his visitation time with his kids, and has a plan to change that -- but unfortunately for him, their child therapists don't agree.

Brad and Angelina Jolie's lawyers filed a series of emails for Wednesday morning's hearing. In one of them his attorney, Lance Spiegel, says despite Brad complying with every aspect of the child therapy process ... "the therapy team has ignored or disregarded issues that [Brad] has raised." He's not specific about the issues.

It's clear from the docs Brad is frustrated by the limited amount of time he gets with his 6 kids ... 1 visit per week. The issue is, Brad signed a temporary custody deal months ago in which he agreed -- along with Angelina -- they would both let the therapists call the shots.

The emails from Brad's attorney suggest he's trying to circumvent that deal. In fact, Spiegel says "Regardless of [the therapists'] views, there is no reason for Brad not to request court orders" for more access to the kids.

In late November, Brad's lawyer asked if Angelina would agree to the following schedule in December:

- one session with the twins (Knox and Vivienne)- one session with the middle kids (Zahara and Shiloh)- one session with the twins AND the middle kids - one session with the older kids (Maddox and Pax)

The sessions would be monitored and 30-60 minutes long. Spiegel adds, if Maddox and Pax don't want to see him ... Brad wants an extra session with the other 4 kids.

Angelina's team turned down the offer. Her attorney, Laura Wasser, fired off a very firm response saying Brad's team is ignoring what therapists feel is best for the kids. She implores them to give the therapists a chance to "tell us how the kids are feeling."

As we reported, Brad was shut down in his effort to keep the case sealed ... but it's now clear from these emails he's determined to spend more time with his brood, ASAP.

12/7/2016 2:58 PM PST BY TMZ STAFF

Matt Barnes and DeMarcus Cousins have just been SUED over the nightclub brawl at Avenue in NYC this week ... with the alleged victims claiming they were brutalized by the NBA stars.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the Sacramento Kings teammates were involved in a violent altercation with two people at the VIP booth next to them around 3 AM on Dec. 5.

According to the lawsuit filed in NYC, Jasmine Besiso and Myrone Powell claim they were innocently hanging out when Barnes approached Jasmine and began to choke her.

In the suit, Powell says he saw the attack and tried to intervene but that's when Cousins stepped in and punched him in the face.

At that point, Barnes allegedly released Jasmine's neck and elbowed her in the face -- knocking her unconscious. Myrone claims he was taken to the ground and Barnes and Cousins proceeded to kick and punch him in the head and body.

The NYPD was called to the scene but Barnes and Cousins had left by the time they arrived.

A rep for the alleged victims calls the incident a "vicious and unprovoked attack" And says Cousins' initial blow was a "blindside punch."

The rep also says the two were transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital where they were treated for "serious injuries."

A rep for Barnes has previously told us that the NBA stars were the real victims -- who were attacked by the other clubgoers over an accidental bump in the VIP section.

TMZ Sports obtained video of Barnes and Cousins in the moments after the fight -- rehashing their version of what happened inside.